Kentucky LPCC & LPCA Continuing Education Requirements
Kentucky counselors must complete 10 continuing education hours per year to renew their LPCC / LPCA license.
10
total hours / year
Annual renewal · calculating the next statewide deadline
Kentucky LPCC & LPCA requirements
| Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|
| Total continuing education | 10 hours per year. |
| Renewal | Annual cycle: CE due by October 31 each year. |
| Approved providers | Qualifying CE may be offered or sponsored by national professional association, state professional association, accredited university, and state licensure board and recognized associations in counseling. |
| Recordkeeping | Keep CE documentation for 1 year after each renewal. |
| Board audit | The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance. |
| Late renewal | A late renewal allows a 60-day grace period after expiration and a late fee. |
| One-time requirements | 6 hours of CE in suicide assessment, treatment, and management, completed within the first 3 years of initial licensure (KRS 210.366). (6 hours, one time). |
| One-time requirements | 3 hours of CE in domestic violence within the first 3 years of initial licensure (KRS 194A.540). One-time requirement. (3 hours, one time). |
| Other mandates | 3 hours of jurisprudence / state law required every 3 years. |
| Other mandates | 6 hours of suicide assessment required every 6 years. |
Keeping the proof in order: what to keep for a CE audit, with every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.
Total hours
10 hours per year.
Renewal
Annual cycle: CE due by October 31 each year.
Approved providers
Qualifying CE may be offered or sponsored by national professional association, state professional association, accredited university, and state licensure board and recognized associations in counseling.
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 1 year after each renewal.
Board audit
The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
Late renewal
A late renewal allows a 60-day grace period after expiration and a late fee.
One-time requirements
6 hours of CE in suicide assessment, treatment, and management, completed within the first 3 years of initial licensure (KRS 210.366). (6 hours, one time).
3 hours of CE in domestic violence within the first 3 years of initial licensure (KRS 194A.540). One-time requirement. (3 hours, one time).
Other mandates
3 hours of jurisprudence / state law required every 3 years.
6 hours of suicide assessment required every 6 years.
Kentucky LPCC & LPCArequired trainings & mandates
Beyond the 10-hour CE total, Kentucky requires specific trainings — some once around initial licensure, some on their own recurring schedule.
One-time requirements
- 6 hours of CE in suicide assessment, treatment, and management, completed within the first 3 years of initial licensure (KRS 210.366). (6 hours, one time).
- 3 hours of CE in domestic violence within the first 3 years of initial licensure (KRS 194A.540). One-time requirement. (3 hours, one time).
Recurring mandates outside the 1 year cycle
- 3 hours of jurisprudence / state law required every 3 years.
- 6 hours of suicide assessment required every 6 years.
Full board policy details
- Provider approval: CE sponsored or approved by the American Counseling Association and its branches, the Kentucky Counseling Association and its chapters, the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), or any state counseling licensure board is accepted without further board review (201 KAR 36:030 §3). Academic courses in a CACREP-accredited counseling program are likewise pre-approved. CE from any other source is not automatically creditable — the licensee must submit a Continuing Education Program Application for the board to approve those hours. No category of activity is exempt from this approval requirement.
- Instructor equivalency: a licensee who teaches a board-approved course in domestic violence, suicide assessment, or Kentucky law is deemed to have satisfied that corresponding mandatory training requirement (201 KAR 36:030). This does not create a general teaching-credit category.
- Self-study and asynchronous/online CE is permitted with no cap; 100% of the 10 hours may be earned via approved online or home-study courses. Live in-person attendance is not required.
- Academic coursework conversion: 1 semester hour of academic credit in an approved counseling program = 15 CE hours.
- The current effective text of 201 KAR 36:030 does not provide general CE credit for teaching or publication and does not impose a general attendee course-repeat prohibition. The LRC change-markup HTML retains the former teaching, repeated-instruction, and publication clauses as deleted text; they do not appear in the clean effective Section 2 adopted in 2024.
- Inactive status: an LPC on inactive status is relieved of paying the renewal fee but MUST still complete the 10 hours of CE for each year of inactivity. To reactivate within 3 years, the licensee must pay the current renewal fee and document CE for every inactive year. Failure to reactivate within 3 years forfeits the license.
- Retired status: a licensee aged 65+ who has ceased practice may request retired status. Retired licensees are NOT required to meet CE requirements, but to resume active practice they must reapply for a new license (including reexamination) — there is no simple reactivation path.
- Lapsed/expired license reinstatement: to reinstate a lapsed LPC license, the applicant must submit proof of 10 CE hours (including 3 hours of the Kentucky law course) completed within the one year prior to the reinstatement application. After 3 years of expiration, the licensee must reapply for licensure from scratch.
- Hardship/medical waiver: the Board may grant a CE waiver or extension of up to one (1) calendar year for documented medical disability, illness, or other undue hardship. Written request (with physician documentation for medical cases) must be submitted within the renewal grace period. Extensions may be renewed by reapplication.
- Initial licensure timing: if an LPC license is initially issued within 120 days before the October 31 renewal date, the first renewal is deferred to October 31 of the following year. Otherwise, the full 10-hour CE requirement applies for the first renewal — there is no prorated first cycle.
We turn every category, format limit, and one-time rule on this page into a live checklist on your Kentucky LPCC / LPCA record, and reapply board changes automatically as they happen.
Track Kentucky LPCC / LPCA CE free →Kentucky LPCC & LPCA CE: frequently asked questions
How many CE hours do Kentucky LPCC / LPCA licensees need?
Kentucky requires 10 continuing education hours per year to renew a LPCC / LPCA license. Annual cycle: CE due by October 31 each year.
How often do Kentucky LPCC / LPCA licensees renew?
Annual cycle: CE due by October 31 each year.
Sources & verification
- State source
- Kentucky board rule
- Profession source
- NBCC continuing education guidance
- Last verified
- July 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.3
Reviewed against the Kentucky board source and refreshed from the compiled ruleset above. Methodology and disclaimer. Compliance data is for guidance only, not legal or board advice. Always confirm requirements with your licensing board before renewing. See something wrong? Report it →
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What to keep for a CE audit
What boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, what the notice looks like, and a printable checklist.
Kentucky mental health workforce data
18,646 active providers, or 404.7 per 100,000 residents, ranked 29 of 51. County density map and free CSV downloads.
Other Kentucky CE requirement pages
LPC CE requirements in other states
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